Jorge Lorenzo looked back to his brilliant best on Saturday at Jerez, claiming a sensational pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix. The Movistar Yamaha rider was quickest in all three timed practice sessions prior to qualifying and converted that dominance into pole ahead of Marc Marquez and Ducati’s Andrea Iannone.
Marquez continues to ride in discomfort due to the injured finger sustained last weekend and the reigning champion did the nerves of Repsol Honda no good by sliding off in FP4, the front end of his RC213V washing out at turn one. Marc returned to the pits uninjured though and was able to take a full part in Q2.
On a number of occasions, Marquez was the fastest rider through the first three sectors but a stunning final sector from Lorenzo saw him set the initial pace on a 1:38.497. Pol Espargaro slotted into second on the Tech 3 Yamaha while Marquez completed his opening run in third.
As the final runs began, Lorenzo moved pole position even further out of his rivals’ reach with a 1:38.243 but Marquez produced an improved effort to secure second, a tenth clear of Iannone who clocked a 1:38.468 to clinch a front row berth for Ducati. The final word went to Jorge though who still had time to smash the circuit record with a 1:37.910, giving a four tenth cushion over the rest.
Pol Espargaro held onto fourth ahead of championship leader Valentino Rossi while Aleix Espargaro used the softer tyre to take the Suzuki onto the second row in sixth. Cal Crutchlow will head the third row ahead of the disappointing Andrea Dovizioso and Pramac’s Yonny Hernandez while British pair Bradley Smith and Scott Redding will line up together on the fourth row, tenth and twelfth respectively.
2015 GRAN PREMIO BWIN DE ESPANA – QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION
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